City of Orting Allowing State Schools Chief Randy Dorn To Seek Redaction of Documents Before Their Release

Dorn gets to review court and police documents before they are released.

Orting Prosecutor Aaron Walls says he has decided to file a DUI charge against State Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn, who was arrested early Sunday morning in the town southeast of Tacoma. But Walls told the Weekly he is not releasing documents in the case until Dorn has a chance to review them and request redaction of "personal" information.

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Walls, who is new on the job and works out of offices in Issaquah and Seattle, says the decision was made by two other city officials: Orting Municipal Court Judge John Curry, who has authority over the charging papers filed in court, and Orting City Attorney Chris Bacha, who gave instruction as to the police report. Walls maintains that "it's not unusual to allow [defendants] to review them."

But we've never heard of such a thing. So we asked Dan Donohoe, spokesperson for King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg, whether his office has ever done that.

"No we haven't," Donohoe responds. "They're public documents."

He adds that the only redacting done by the King County Prosecutor 's Office is what's required by the State Supreme Court, mainly pertaining to driver's license and social security numbers.

Dorn was arrested on his way back from what he called, in a brief statement, "a community event" in which he had "beer with dinner."

UPDATE: Walls just forwarded the complaint (see pdf), which gives only the information needed to charge someone for DUI, that his blood alcohol level was above .08 percent. No other documents are yet forthcoming.

UPDATE: The charging documents have now been released, showing that Dorn had a blood alcohol level of .097 and a flushed face when he was stopped (see pdf). City attorney Bacha is giving Dorn until Friday to seek an injunction to redact or stop the release of further police records, according to Walls. Bacha could not be reached for comment.